Recent Tasting Notes

The dry leaf for this tea might be a bit intimidating for some. Not as strong as some lapsang or genmaicha I’ve smelled, but it is a slightly funky, earthy, and straw-like scent. The brewed tea is much more mild and smells almost like roasted corn. I was afraid this tea would be similar to barley tea (mugicha), which for some reason I don’t like the taste of, but I was pleasantly surprised by the taste of this tea when brewed. It stood up to a nice long brewing of 3 minutes since it is less fragile than a non-roasted green tea. There is absolutely no bitterness, astringency, or even the slight acidity that regular green teas can sometimes have. It does inherit the grassiness and smooth buttery finish of a high quality green tea. The finish is sweet and smooth, reminding me of a non-salted version of those grocery snack corn nuts. The after taste has a bit of tannin that reminds me of oolong teas served in restaurants to help with digestion, but it is more of a nostalgic reminder and does not affect the overall taste of the tea at all.

Flavors: Butter, Hay, Roasted nuts, Straw, Toasted Rice

Preparation

I love ShiZen’s teas. I really enjoyed their tea powders, those were great for on the go. I would bring them with me on days when my daughter needed me to be at her dance school pretty much all day for rehearsals and such, because I could enjoy a bottle of green tea without all the sugar of the stuff you’d buy at the convenience store.

Both of these offerings are organic, and I like that. This Sencha is not quite as sweet as the Superior. It tastes a bit like young, tender, lightly buttered lima beans. A hint of savory bitterness offers some contrast for the palate. This one has become a favorite for mealtime.

Lovely! I love Genmaicha, and I generally like it even better when it’s been dusted with Matcha. The Matcha gives it a richness in texture and a deeper and sweeter flavor. It just makes it yummier.

Sort of like … ok, a cupcake is tasty, but it’s even better when it’s been filled and frosted. Like a lemon cupcake that hasn’t been frosted … it still tastes good, but when you fill it with lemon curd and then top it with a luscious creamy lemon cream cheese frosting it’s even better. It’s sort of like that only it’s not cupcakes, it’s genmaicha tea.

I think I shouldn’t listen to this song when I’m writing backlogs of my reviews because the reviews get kind of weird.

Anyway, this tea: delicious, roasty-toasty, nutty, sweet genmaicha that’s been dusted with a light coat of matcha that adds a sweet flavor and creamy texture to the cup. Oh, did I mention that it’s also organic? Bonus points!

An excellent Japanese Sencha. It is crisp and vibrant. Sweet with a slight savory tone that develops at mid-sip. This Japanese Sencha seems sweeter than many of the other Japanese Sencha teas that I’ve tried. I like that.

I have two of these straws, I believe they came from TeaTiff originally. I guess I’d just forgotten I had them because this is the first time I’ve tried one. There is no English on the packet, so I read the Steepster description to find out how much water I was supposed to use. I mixed it up in a glass with 16 ounces of water. I must say, the powder did not want to dissolve easily – I often have the same problem with Crystal Light mixes and that sort of thing. It would probably work better if it was done in a water bottle so it could be shaken. Eventually, it dissolved, but there is definitely a little layer of sediment at the bottom of the glass that settles after you stop stirring it.

The flavor is actually quite good. It tastes similar to a mild sencha – vegetal and somewhat grassy but with a little bit of natural sweetness. I could definitely see myself drinking these straws if I had a busier lifestyle and was out running errands or going to school a lot. They would be very convenient!

Yes I know that there is also an “organic” Japanese green tea powder from ShiZen, but they are different products.

I really like these green tea powder packets from Shi Zen. It makes tea on the go so easy. I don’t really care much for RTD teas … I mean, there are some that are alright, but, they are generally too sweet for my liking. These are just right. Just the right amount of natural sweetness, and I like that I’m tasting green tea and not the sugar, syrup and flavoring that is in most of the “to go” kind of tea drinks.

Tasty, sweet, vegetative … and after a good, vigorous shake, the tea powder stays incorporated in the water. No gritty sediment.

Even though this is not a matcha, I prepared it the same way I would a matcha, in my chawan, whisking it with my chasen. I was surprised at how much froth the powdered sencha produced! It resembled a high-quality matcha! Impressive!

Sweet, vegetative (this side of grassy) and buttery, with creamy notes, there is some bitterness to this, but I like it. It offers a nice contrast to the sweet notes and gives the overall bowl a sort of savory quality.

This Matcha froths up really nicely, it has a strong vegetative taste. What’s interesting about this Matcha is that it is actually blended with the powder of the cherry blossom leaf, so you get some authentic flavors there. This isn’t flavored via crystals or flavoring.

I really like these green tea powder packets from ShiZen … it’s great for on the go. When we go for a road trip or something, I always put a few of these in my purse so that I can buy a bottle of water and have some green tea that doesn’t taste like the over-sweetened RTD teas that they sell at the convenience stores. With these, you just tear open the little pixie packet and pour the powder into the bottle and give it a really good shake, and wa-lah! Tea that tastes like tea not sugar.